Richland police looking for recent identity theft victims

Richland police are trying to track down recent identity theft victims after two men were arrested in connection with skimming bank account numbers from area gas station pumps.

Stevee M. Milan, 23, and Jesus E. Matamoro-Almaguer, 30, both of Portland, were arrested Friday at the Motel 6 on Fowler Street, a release said.

The pair have been tied to thousands of dollars of merchandise bought with card numbers stolen from Mid-Columbia gas pumps from April 19-20 and April 23-24. The men are alleged to have committed similar crimes elsewhere in the state.

Milan and Matamoro-Almaguer were booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of identity theft and first-degree theft. A search of their motel room and car yielded several pieces of evidence related to credit and debit card fraud.

“One complication of an investigation of this type is difficulty in identifying victims,” police said. “Most victims of fraud report the incident to their financial institution but not their local law enforcement agency. This makes identification of the number of crimes and victims impossible.”

Anyone who believes they were a victim of these crimes should call Richland police Ddetective Erik Lundquist at 509-942-7716.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Richland police looking for recent identity theft victims."